Drier for textile threads



Dec. l, 1942.

O. VON KOHORN ZU I (ORNEGG DRIER FOR TEXTILE THREAD Filed July 26, 1940for the short fibers.

Patented D ec. l, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE e DRIER FOR TEXTILETHREADS Oscar von Kohorn zu Kornegg, New York, N. Y.,

assignor, by mesne assignments, to Fibres Associates, Inc., a.corporation of New York Application July 26, 194D, Serial No. 347l,607

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to thedrying oi textile threads and moreparticularly to the continuous drying of the artificial thread used inthe manufacture of yarns and slivers.

It has been well known in the art to dry short fibers such as cottonwool and staple fiber in driers of the conveyor belt type, in whichendless ropes or tows were dried on one or several 'endless `beltconveyors.

A further object of this inventionis the provision of a new process fordrying threads or filaments particularly those relating to synthetic.

which are either heated themselves, or which v are placed intoa heatedchamber. This method of drying does 'not afford the fibers theopportunity of following their natural tendency such as forinstanceshrinking in the case of viscose fibers. It is, however, desirable topermit viscose fibers to follow their natural shrinking tendency duringthe drying, because such shrinking results in a crimp or curl whichimproves the feel` and appearance of yarns and fabricsmade fromfs'uchfibers.

If viscose filaments, for instance', are cut into staples, formingstaple fiber, they are no more under tension and therefore can shrinkand curl in accordance with their shrinking or tendency to contract. thecontinuity of these fibers, which requires another opening, lap-forming,carding and spinning process, vaccording to -one' of the known j methodsof yarn spinning. Y y A l My invention makes it possible to obtain ayarn consisting, for instance, of viscose fibers 'or any other fiberszhaving'a shrinking and curling tendencyduring drying, which hasall thedesirable properties I'of-yarn spun from short-fibers and dried 'instock, withoutghowever, necessitating the same spinning operationsrequired ll attain this result by af fording continuous threads, suchfor instance as viscose rayon threads, the opportunity .to shrink andcurl freely while being -dried in a continuous operation. According ftomy invention I provide a drier of the design and construction as shownon the drawing and described hereinafter. and I use this drier inaccordance with the following method:

My drier consists of a number vof .endless belt conveyors, carrying thefiber material to be dried,

ing through them. As one preferred embodiment of my invention, I driveallthese conveyorfbelts individually and at variable speeds which can beindividually controlled. I also arrange these belt conveyors in severaladjacent sections, each section consisting of a number of belts arrangedvertically or substantially vertically above each other.

When drying continuous' threads it is assumed that a multitude of suchthreads,.consi sting of many thousands, will be' dried `simultaneouslyand that these threadswill befed into the drier a large number ofindividual conveyor b elts in order to obtain the necessary drying timefor the fibers carried by these belts, the drying time depending on thequantity of fibers to be dried.

On the attached-drawing:

used by me, partly in section;

This, on the other hand, destroys 'l the drying section I. the drier ontothe top belt conveyor by means these belts being driven, and thedrying air pass- Figure 2 is a sectional view of the drier; and

Figure 3 is 'a top plan view of the drier, partly' in section. I.

On Figures 1, 2 and 3, the drying chamber 5 contains the drying sectionsI, 2, '3 and L4. Each such drying section consists of 'a number ofendless conveyor belts I', I", I 'v; 2', 2", 2' and so forth.

On Figure 2 are shown, for instance, six end-A less conveyor belts,.I,I, I.,f and .so forth) arranged vertically above feach"other making upThe ribbon I5 isafed into of a. feed arrangement cons'istin'g'o'f:feed-gears or other suitable devices; On the drawing :is

shown a pair' of toothed gears 6ones1ichfeed-v ing device being providedon topr of each dryfing section.V The feedingdevice ,ontop Vof thedrying section I feeds the fiberV ribbon on to' the' top belt `of dryingsection I. "The toplbelt' ofdrying section'l is driven bymeans ofpulleyor pulleys 1. The speed'of this-belt .can 4be controlled and Ihave .found it desirable to-contro1 Y individually the speed ofeach'belt in the'drier.

successive belt over which the ribbon passs 'at a slightly vlower speed.Thus,jfor` instance, the

Vtop belt'I" will. move at aslightly higher speed than belt I" which inturn will move ata slightly higher speed than I" and so forth.

When drying materials which do not have too high a shrinking tendency,it is also possible to run all belts in one drying section at the sameconstant speed but to operate the belts of drying section 2 at aslightly lower speed than that of drying section I, the belts of dryingsection 3 at a slightly lower speed than .that of the .belts of dryingsection 2, and so forth.

By means of the feed gears 6 the ribbon is fed on to the top belt ofdrying section I in wave for as shown on Figure 1. It is carried throughthe drier from left to right, as shown on Figure l, and after havingtraversed the drier on the top belt I" of section I, it drops on to thebelt I" This'b'elt moves from the right to the left as shown on Figure1, and in turn discharges the ribbon on to belt I" This operation isrepeated until the ribbon finally reaches the bottom belt I' ofsection'I. From there it is taken up by the guide pulleys 8, 9 and I0.The ribbon then passes through the feed gears provided over the dryingsection 2 .and is again in wave form fed on to the top belt of thedrying sectionV 2.

It passes through the drying section 2 in the same manner as throughdrying section I and is then fed into the drying section 3 as described.

above. After the ribbon has reached drying section 4, it passes throughthis section down to the last belt which at the same time is thedischarge belt of the drier. On Figures l, 2 and 3 only iive dryingbelts have been provided in section 4 in order to discharge the ribbonat the end of the drier opposite to that at which the ribbon has beenfed into it. Where required, it is, of course, possible, to dischargethe ribbon from the drier at the feeding end.

The air circulates through the drier from the bottom upward in order toobtain a countercurrent effect of the air on the fibers, bringing thedry,air in contact with, the dry fibers on the bottom belts and the wetair with the wet fibers at the top bell. On Figures l and 2 a fan II isshown forcing the air through the radiator I2 into the drier throughwhich the air rises. It is then drawn off at the top of the drier by thefans I3 and escapes through duct I4.

In'` order to make even better use 'of the counter-current system, it isalso possible to conduct the heated air first through the drying section4 in'upward direction, then forcing it by means of a fan through adouble wall between the sections 3 and 4 back to the bottom ofsection.3, allowing it to rise by virtue of its higher temperaturethrough drying section 3, forcing it by means of a fan through thedouble wall provided between the drying sections 3 and 2 back to thebottom of drying section 2 and repeating this process the requirednumber of times or until the air has passed through all sections of thedrier. The drier can, of course, have any number of drying sectionsnecessary. The size of the gears 6 must be properly calculated in orderto provide the necessary curl or curlage desired inthe fiber itselfduring the drying operation.

After the fiber ribbon leaves the drier in dried, shrunk and curledcondition-'it is either cut into pieces or the continuous ribbon isconverted immediately into a spinnable roving yarn by means of one ofthe known methods. Such a yarn will have excellent physical propertiesbecause it will consist of individually curled or crimped fibers whichwill give the yarn and the resulting fabrics the volume and vbullrinessusually not obtainable from continuously dried endless tows or ropes.

1. Apparatus for drying continuously running threads comprising aplurality of endless driven belts supporting the threads during drying,said belts being arranged in a series of adiacent drying sections, cachsection -comprising a number of endless belts positioned verticallyabove each other and driven alternately in opposite directions, means tofeed the threads into the drier on to the top belt of one sectioncarrying the threads through the length of the drier and dropping thesaid threads on to the belt below moving in opposite direction to thebottom belt of the first section, and driven means to transporty the lthreads laterally and upwardly on to the top belt of the second adjacentdrying section through the required number of drying sections, means foradmitting hot air into the drier, means for circulating the hot air oversaid belts and means for removing moist air from the drier.

2. Apparatus for drying continuously running threads comprising 'aplurality of endless driven belts supporting the threads during drying,said belts being arranged in a series of adjacent drying sections, eachsection comprising a number of endless belts positioned vertically aboveeach other 1` and driven alternately in opposite directions, means tofeed the threads into the drier on to the top belt of one sectioncarrying the threads through the length of the drier and dropping thesaid threads on to the belt below moving in opposite direction andcontinuing to convey the threads through the drier down to the bottombelt of the rst section, driven means to transport the threads laterallyand upwardly on to the top belt of the second adjacent drying sectionIand means to continue to convey the threads through the required numberof drying sections, means for admitting hot air into the drier, meansfor circulating the hot air over said belts and means for removing moistair from said drier.

3. Apparatus for drying continuously running threads comprising aplurality of endless driven belts supporting the threads during drying,said belts being arranged in a series of adjacent drying sections, eachsection comprising a number of endless belts positioned-vertically aboveeach other and driven alternately in opposite directions, eachsubsequent belt moving progressively slower than the preceding one,means to feed the threads into the drier on to the top belt ofA onesection carrying the threads through the length of the drier anddropping the said threads on to the belt below moving in oppositedirection and continuing to convey the threads through the drier. downto the bottom belt of the first section, driven means to transport' thethreads vlaterally and upwardly on to the top belt of the secondadjacent drying section and means to continue to convey the threadsthrough the required number of drying sections, each subsequent sectionprogressively moving at a slower average speed than the precedingsection, means for admitting hot air into the drier, means forcirculating the hot air over said beltsY and means for removing moist-air from said drier.

OSCAR von KOHORN zu KORNEGG.

